Long Way From Home | 1973 Kingswood Ute for sale in Las Vegas

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 15.11.2018

Gateway Classic Cars’ Las Vegas showroom offering one well-travelled Aussie classic.

In a curious case of one well-travelled Aussie, Gateway Classic Cars, a Las Vegas classic car dealer is currently selling an all-Australian 1973 Holden HQ Kingswood Ute.

Rarely-seen on American roads, the Aussie ute holds a niche fascination for Americans in the know.

The dark blue HQ is specified with a 308 V8 and a three-speed auto, and is optioned with AM/FM radio, power steering, power brakes and radial tyres.

The HQ throughout the 70s boasted a rather successful export program, with 197,288 of them delivered overseas, and no less than seven international plants building them up from Australian-exported parts and components.

This car, with complete Holden badging, is more likely a rare personal export. Gateway Classic Cars state it to be one of the "very few" Holdens that successfully traversed the North Pacific Ocean and made it through customs and on to US roads.

GCC stress that the 1973 HQ Ute is fully registered and titled in the United States. They’re asking USD$22,595 which equates to AUD$31,231 at the current conversion rate.

The car looks well-used and less than concours, with an undocumented odometer of 42,300 miles, aftermarket speakers, bonnet-mounted SAAS gauges and a healthy patina present in the exterior paint and rear bed.

Curiously, GCC state that the HQ Kingswood Ute would be "great for hauling or towing", which is rather converse to the classic status they enjoy here in their native land. Coupled with this particular car’s clearly-used condition, it speaks to how little collectible value our prized hero cars receive in the eyes of anyone outside of our shores.

Still, it’s always fascinating to see how far and wide our some of our local cars have spread across the globe.

We wonder if we have any American readers out there who would be keen on this Outback workhorse.

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